heh!
from
Friday, February 25, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
PhD programs in the Semantic Web ?
Hey there,
I'm still looking around at PhD programs. A colleague suggesting looking for a program that specifically highlights semantic web stuff. Any suggestions? Ideas? Digital humanities is still high on my list, but I'm still investigating.
thanks!
I'm still looking around at PhD programs. A colleague suggesting looking for a program that specifically highlights semantic web stuff. Any suggestions? Ideas? Digital humanities is still high on my list, but I'm still investigating.
thanks!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Professional CV (a Jquery experiment)
So, when I did my dossier for promotion (I go through a rank and promotion process which is somewhat similar to tenure but *not* tenure) , I did it in Jquery. I wanted something that represented my skills as well as meet the format of the dossier.
You can see it live embedded below or go to http://www.robinfay.net/cv/
You can see it live embedded below or go to http://www.robinfay.net/cv/
Friday, February 18, 2011
Losing my librarian religion
So, I recently read this post Trying to Get My Mojo Workin:
It seems alot of people are talking about librarianship and burnout, here , here and Karen Schneider at Freerange Librarian even offered a few tips to avoid it here.
I'll be honest -- I'm not burned out (and this post is really just my perception of libraries as a WHOLE, not any one specific library -- I do realize there are some great libraries and some that are not).. I am excited about FRBR (finally something that makes sense albeit with silly terminology) and RDA (at least as a transition point towards the semantic web), content management systems, institutional repositories, and discovery tools that can harvest all resources (and markup resources with appropriate semantic description and structure), rss and social media and how we can (in theory) can change the perception of what cataloging is. Those of us who have worked in technical services areas have unprecedented change ahead which *should* mean opportunity.
..but then reality hits... budget woes, an aging population of librarians who are not retiring, library workers who are checked out and doing the bare minimum, positions unfilled (the work is spread around), job descriptions and workflows that have not been evaluated in 5 - 10 - 15 or probably for some libraries, 20 years.
In spite of the fact that I love librarianship as a profession, at times, I wonder if I am cut out to wear the ill fitting coat of librarian. Some days, it feels like my grandmother's church coat - moth eaten, staid, conservative, slightly out of style but serviceable -- and other times, a too tight hipster leather jacket with lots of pockets to show off all of the many shiny cool gadgets...
...so when I read about burnout, I realized that's not it exactly for me... mostly, along the way, I lost some of my librarian religion. I've always had a career goal (and as budgets crashed, I've watched some of them wither, while others were butchered to the ground). I am very adaptive. If one door closes, I am usually reaching for the next already... but I now find myself in front of a brick wall. I really don't know where I go from here. I know my interests, I know what I enjoy doing (not only doing technical work, but also teaching, training, and writing, as I am doing at the moment.) I can learn just about anything (ok, brain surgery might take some time, thankfully, I am not looking to do that - lol). I've been looking at PhD programs, especially in Digital Humanities, Ed Technology, etc. LIS programs have been mostly eliminated due to the significant residency time.
The big question which has been in mind for the last year now, is do I stay [in librarianship] or do I go? Is there anything in the closet of librarianship that actually fits me?
Several months ago I realized I’d lost my librarian mojo and since that time I’ve been struggling to reclaim it. Being the person that I am, I have been hyper-analyzing my mojo loss. I have been disenchanted at work, feeling weary and dissatisfied, and yet, it feels like it’s all out of my control.
It seems alot of people are talking about librarianship and burnout, here , here and Karen Schneider at Freerange Librarian even offered a few tips to avoid it here.
I'll be honest -- I'm not burned out (and this post is really just my perception of libraries as a WHOLE, not any one specific library -- I do realize there are some great libraries and some that are not).. I am excited about FRBR (finally something that makes sense albeit with silly terminology) and RDA (at least as a transition point towards the semantic web), content management systems, institutional repositories, and discovery tools that can harvest all resources (and markup resources with appropriate semantic description and structure), rss and social media and how we can (in theory) can change the perception of what cataloging is. Those of us who have worked in technical services areas have unprecedented change ahead which *should* mean opportunity.
..but then reality hits... budget woes, an aging population of librarians who are not retiring, library workers who are checked out and doing the bare minimum, positions unfilled (the work is spread around), job descriptions and workflows that have not been evaluated in 5 - 10 - 15 or probably for some libraries, 20 years.
In spite of the fact that I love librarianship as a profession, at times, I wonder if I am cut out to wear the ill fitting coat of librarian. Some days, it feels like my grandmother's church coat - moth eaten, staid, conservative, slightly out of style but serviceable -- and other times, a too tight hipster leather jacket with lots of pockets to show off all of the many shiny cool gadgets...
...so when I read about burnout, I realized that's not it exactly for me... mostly, along the way, I lost some of my librarian religion. I've always had a career goal (and as budgets crashed, I've watched some of them wither, while others were butchered to the ground). I am very adaptive. If one door closes, I am usually reaching for the next already... but I now find myself in front of a brick wall. I really don't know where I go from here. I know my interests, I know what I enjoy doing (not only doing technical work, but also teaching, training, and writing, as I am doing at the moment.) I can learn just about anything (ok, brain surgery might take some time, thankfully, I am not looking to do that - lol). I've been looking at PhD programs, especially in Digital Humanities, Ed Technology, etc. LIS programs have been mostly eliminated due to the significant residency time.
The big question which has been in mind for the last year now, is do I stay [in librarianship] or do I go? Is there anything in the closet of librarianship that actually fits me?
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Managing API Security in SaaS and Cloud (webinar)
Managing API Security in SaaS and Cloud
February 23, 2011
9:00AM PST | 12:00PM EST | 5:00PM GMT
Presented by Layer 7 Technologies and the Cloud Security Alliance
Overview:
Opening SaaS applications and cloud services to outside developers is becoming critical to achieve cloud-enterprise integrations, information sharing across affiliate Web sites and enabling mobile / tablet access to data. Controlling how API's get securely exposed to different consumers requires a simple, scalable way to manage API security, address versioning and meter consumption without burdening either application developers or application consumers.
In this Webinar presented by Layer 7 CTO Scott Morrison & eBay Chief Security Strategist Liam Lynch you will learn:
* about the security challenges posed by SOAP, REST and Odata APIs
* approaches to addressing data and access security
* ways to leveraging existing security investments
* methods for getting outside developers enrolled onto your APIs
* examples from the real world of how cloud providers use and secure APIs
Presented by:
Scott Morrison
CTO, Layer 7 Technologies, Inc.
Liam Lynch
Chief Security Strategist, eBay
http://is.gd/xrlOJy
February 23, 2011
9:00AM PST | 12:00PM EST | 5:00PM GMT
Presented by Layer 7 Technologies and the Cloud Security Alliance
Overview:
Opening SaaS applications and cloud services to outside developers is becoming critical to achieve cloud-enterprise integrations, information sharing across affiliate Web sites and enabling mobile / tablet access to data. Controlling how API's get securely exposed to different consumers requires a simple, scalable way to manage API security, address versioning and meter consumption without burdening either application developers or application consumers.
In this Webinar presented by Layer 7 CTO Scott Morrison & eBay Chief Security Strategist Liam Lynch you will learn:
* about the security challenges posed by SOAP, REST and Odata APIs
* approaches to addressing data and access security
* ways to leveraging existing security investments
* methods for getting outside developers enrolled onto your APIs
* examples from the real world of how cloud providers use and secure APIs
Presented by:
Scott Morrison
CTO, Layer 7 Technologies, Inc.
Liam Lynch
Chief Security Strategist, eBay
http://is.gd/xrlOJy
Institutional Repository Conference (Free!)
The Digital Commons @ Kennesaw State and the Horace W. Sturgis Library are
pleased to announce "Giving Undergraduate Research a Worldwide Voice:
Institutional Repositories as Publishers," a free one-day conference on
institutional repositories and their place in undergraduate education.
Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Location: KSU Continuing Education
The keynote speaker will be Nancy Hensel, Executive Officer for the Council
on Undergraduate Research. This free event includes continental breakfast,
lunch, and a full-day program featuring speakers from around the country
discussing Institutional Repositories and how they can be used to publish and
promote undergraduate research in higher education.
More information, including online registration and a complete program of
events, can be found at: http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/irday2011/ All
are welcome to attend.
Contact Jon Hansen: jhansen@kennesaw.edu
pleased to announce "Giving Undergraduate Research a Worldwide Voice:
Institutional Repositories as Publishers," a free one-day conference on
institutional repositories and their place in undergraduate education.
Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Location: KSU Continuing Education
The keynote speaker will be Nancy Hensel, Executive Officer for the Council
on Undergraduate Research. This free event includes continental breakfast,
lunch, and a full-day program featuring speakers from around the country
discussing Institutional Repositories and how they can be used to publish and
promote undergraduate research in higher education.
More information, including online registration and a complete program of
events, can be found at: http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/irday2011/ All
are welcome to attend.
Contact Jon Hansen: jhansen@kennesaw.edu
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Historic Newspapers online
Very cool resource of athens newspapers & historic info:
-----------
The Digital Library of Georgia is pleased to announce the availability of a new online resource: The Athens Historic Newspapers Archive
http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/athnewspapers
The Athens Historic Newspapers Archive provides online access to five newspaper titles published in Athens from 1827 to 1922. Consisting of over 57,000 newspaper pages, the archive provides historical images that are both full-text searchable and can be browsed by date. The site will provide users with a view into the history of Athens in its early years as the home to the first state-chartered university in the nation and its eventual growth into the largest city in northeast Georgia.
The archive includes the following Athens newspaper titles: Athenian (1827-1832), Southern Banner (1832-1882), Southern Watchman (1855-1882), Daily/Weekly Banner-Watchman (1882-1889), Daily/Weekly Athens Banner (1889-1922).
The Athens Historic Newspapers Archive is a project of the Digital Library of Georgia as part of the Georgia HomePLACE initiative. The project is supported with federal LSTA funds administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. Digitization is also made possible through a grant provided by the Francis Wood Wilson Foundation, Inc.
Other newspaper archives available through the Digital Library of Georgia include the Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive (1847-1922), the Macon Telegraph Archive (1826-1908), the Columbus Enquirer Archive (1828-1890), the Milledgeville Historic Newspapers Archive (1808-1920), the Southern Israelite Archive (1929-1986), and the Red and Black Archive (1893-2006). These archives can be accessed at http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/MediaTypes/Newspapers.html
-----------
The Digital Library of Georgia is pleased to announce the availability of a new online resource: The Athens Historic Newspapers Archive
http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/athnewspapers
The Athens Historic Newspapers Archive provides online access to five newspaper titles published in Athens from 1827 to 1922. Consisting of over 57,000 newspaper pages, the archive provides historical images that are both full-text searchable and can be browsed by date. The site will provide users with a view into the history of Athens in its early years as the home to the first state-chartered university in the nation and its eventual growth into the largest city in northeast Georgia.
The archive includes the following Athens newspaper titles: Athenian (1827-1832), Southern Banner (1832-1882), Southern Watchman (1855-1882), Daily/Weekly Banner-Watchman (1882-1889), Daily/Weekly Athens Banner (1889-1922).
The Athens Historic Newspapers Archive is a project of the Digital Library of Georgia as part of the Georgia HomePLACE initiative. The project is supported with federal LSTA funds administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. Digitization is also made possible through a grant provided by the Francis Wood Wilson Foundation, Inc.
Other newspaper archives available through the Digital Library of Georgia include the Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive (1847-1922), the Macon Telegraph Archive (1826-1908), the Columbus Enquirer Archive (1828-1890), the Milledgeville Historic Newspapers Archive (1808-1920), the Southern Israelite Archive (1929-1986), and the Red and Black Archive (1893-2006). These archives can be accessed at http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/MediaTypes/Newspapers.html
The Smartest Machine on Earth (Ai, machine learning & more)
Last night I watched Nova's Smartest Machine on Earth program.
Really fascinating stuff as it explored how machine learning happens (it is essentially a weighted relevance ranking dependent upon data and rules, but then it makes decision based upon specific bits of information including pattern seeking). It also touched on what makes us human, our peopleness and how our experiences shape our knowledge (and how do you teach those to a computer?) The main focus was exploring the work on the machine Watson which plays on Jeopardy Feb. 14-16. (an overview of how he did on Feb 14)
One interesting example talked about typography and trying to teach a computer to recognize all of the variations of the letter A: from typewritten to handwritten, all of the various fonts... really interesting.
Really fascinating stuff as it explored how machine learning happens (it is essentially a weighted relevance ranking dependent upon data and rules, but then it makes decision based upon specific bits of information including pattern seeking). It also touched on what makes us human, our peopleness and how our experiences shape our knowledge (and how do you teach those to a computer?) The main focus was exploring the work on the machine Watson which plays on Jeopardy Feb. 14-16. (an overview of how he did on Feb 14)
One interesting example talked about typography and trying to teach a computer to recognize all of the variations of the letter A: from typewritten to handwritten, all of the various fonts... really interesting.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Access services conferences seeks volunteers (libraries)
Georgia librarians (& any other interested parties):
If you're interested in volunteering for the 2011 Access Services Conference:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dG12dXRveVJ3ZHZqd0FYUnRKaG82QXc6MQ
Information about the conference is available here:
http://www.accessservicesconference.org/
If you're interested in volunteering for the 2011 Access Services Conference:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dG12dXRveVJ3ZHZqd0FYUnRKaG82QXc6MQ
Information about the conference is available here:
http://www.accessservicesconference.org/
Monday, February 7, 2011
Logi Insight for Libraries with Voyager ILS (Webinar)
Logi Insight for Libraries with Voyager ILS
Featuring Kevin Kidd, Manager of Libraries, Boston College
Date & Time: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 1pm EST
Duration: 45 minutes
Presenters: Kevin Kidd, Manager of Libraries, Boston College
Matt Hoffman, Director of Library Solutions, LogiXML
Who Should Attend: Deans, Systems Librarians, Electronic Resources Librarians, etc.
Join us for a webinar on our new reporting solution for academic libraries using the Voyager ILS. Boston College, Texas Tech, and NYU have partnered with us to develop this solution that enables librarians to instantly evaluate and understand resource utilization to support data-driven decision-making.
Learn about becoming a charter partner and see a live demo of our new Dean's Dashboard!
* Budget Status Gauge
* Circulation Trend Chart
* Cataloging Productivity
* And much more!
Live Webinar: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 1pm EST
Featuring Kevin Kidd, Manager of Libraries, Boston College
Date & Time: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 1pm EST
Duration: 45 minutes
Presenters: Kevin Kidd, Manager of Libraries, Boston College
Matt Hoffman, Director of Library Solutions, LogiXML
Who Should Attend: Deans, Systems Librarians, Electronic Resources Librarians, etc.
Join us for a webinar on our new reporting solution for academic libraries using the Voyager ILS. Boston College, Texas Tech, and NYU have partnered with us to develop this solution that enables librarians to instantly evaluate and understand resource utilization to support data-driven decision-making.
Learn about becoming a charter partner and see a live demo of our new Dean's Dashboard!
* Budget Status Gauge
* Circulation Trend Chart
* Cataloging Productivity
* And much more!
Live Webinar: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 1pm EST
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Technical Services Efficiencies, Now and into the Future! Tomorrow!
Ideas and Insights Series:Technical Services Efficiencies, Now and into the Future! (Atlanta, GA)
http://www.lyrasis.org/Classes-and-Events/Venues/L/LYRASIS-Atlanta.aspx
Date:
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Location:
LYRASIS-Atlanta
1438 West Peachtree St., ste. 200
Atlanta, GA 30309
Registration fee is now $50!
REGISTER for this Event
Agenda
The pace of change facing library technical services staff is ever accelerating, as our organizations explore new technologies and new media. We ourselves in technical services face new tools, standards and utilities with which we perform the vital work of making library resources available to our patrons. Evaluating the ways in which we work to ensure that we achieve our goals is always essential, yet continually challenging.
To help you face these changes now and in the future, LYRASIS has brought together professionals from the field to share their experiences in not just meeting these challenges but in taking advantage of them. Join us to hear their experiences, and take advantage of the opportunity to share your own with colleagues during the day.
Our idea of this Bibliographic conference is to bring a wide array of people to these sessions.
9:30-10:00 am Registration
10:00-10:15 am Welcome from LYRASIS (Regional Director-Cal Shepard)
10:15-11:15 am Trends in Technical Services: Where they lead us, where they take us, but where’s Waldo? (Rosanna O'Neil- OCLC)
Description: With 30+ years of Technical Services experience, Rosanna will lead a lively discussion about today’s Technical Services trends based on her experience as a librarian, business owner, and consultant. As she poses ideas and questions, she’ll ask you to consider how you might shape the future of Technical Services (what she considers the most dynamic area of the library, bar none!).
11:15-11:30 am Break
11:30 am-12:30 pm RDA: A Practitioner's Approach to Staff Training and Testing (Erin Stalberg-NCSU)
Description: North Carolina State University, a RDA testing site, has trained staff on RDA and considered the implications of incorporating RDA into their workflow. Erin Stalberg, Head, Metadata and Cataloging, shares how she and her colleagues tackled RDA, what training techniques worked best for them, and the changes necessitated in local policies.
12:30 -1:30 pm Lunch
1:30-2:30 pm A SkyRiver Transition (Speaker: Gale Teaster, Head of Serials, Acquisitions & Cataloging, Winthrop University)
Description: Hear about one library's journey from development partnership to being a fully operational SkyRiver customer with a company that has changed the library technical services landscape, including the collaborative process involved during the transition and its significant impact on the product. This session also will include a summary overview of SkyRiver's services.
2:30-2:45 pm Break
2:45-3:15 pm Ideas and Insights exchange (Lead by Linda Gonzalez and Jennifer Bielewski-LYRASIS)
Description: Ideas and Insights exchange is an opportunity for members to share the cataloging and technical services efficiencies going on in their libraries/organizations.
3:15-3:30pm LYRASIS Wrap-up (Linda Gonzalez and Jennifer Bielewski-LYRASIS)
http://www.lyrasis.org/Classes-and-Events/Venues/L/LYRASIS-Atlanta.aspx
Date:
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Location:
LYRASIS-Atlanta
1438 West Peachtree St., ste. 200
Atlanta, GA 30309
Registration fee is now $50!
REGISTER for this Event
Agenda
The pace of change facing library technical services staff is ever accelerating, as our organizations explore new technologies and new media. We ourselves in technical services face new tools, standards and utilities with which we perform the vital work of making library resources available to our patrons. Evaluating the ways in which we work to ensure that we achieve our goals is always essential, yet continually challenging.
To help you face these changes now and in the future, LYRASIS has brought together professionals from the field to share their experiences in not just meeting these challenges but in taking advantage of them. Join us to hear their experiences, and take advantage of the opportunity to share your own with colleagues during the day.
Our idea of this Bibliographic conference is to bring a wide array of people to these sessions.
9:30-10:00 am Registration
10:00-10:15 am Welcome from LYRASIS (Regional Director-Cal Shepard)
10:15-11:15 am Trends in Technical Services: Where they lead us, where they take us, but where’s Waldo? (Rosanna O'Neil- OCLC)
Description: With 30+ years of Technical Services experience, Rosanna will lead a lively discussion about today’s Technical Services trends based on her experience as a librarian, business owner, and consultant. As she poses ideas and questions, she’ll ask you to consider how you might shape the future of Technical Services (what she considers the most dynamic area of the library, bar none!).
11:15-11:30 am Break
11:30 am-12:30 pm RDA: A Practitioner's Approach to Staff Training and Testing (Erin Stalberg-NCSU)
Description: North Carolina State University, a RDA testing site, has trained staff on RDA and considered the implications of incorporating RDA into their workflow. Erin Stalberg, Head, Metadata and Cataloging, shares how she and her colleagues tackled RDA, what training techniques worked best for them, and the changes necessitated in local policies.
12:30 -1:30 pm Lunch
1:30-2:30 pm A SkyRiver Transition (Speaker: Gale Teaster, Head of Serials, Acquisitions & Cataloging, Winthrop University)
Description: Hear about one library's journey from development partnership to being a fully operational SkyRiver customer with a company that has changed the library technical services landscape, including the collaborative process involved during the transition and its significant impact on the product. This session also will include a summary overview of SkyRiver's services.
2:30-2:45 pm Break
2:45-3:15 pm Ideas and Insights exchange (Lead by Linda Gonzalez and Jennifer Bielewski-LYRASIS)
Description: Ideas and Insights exchange is an opportunity for members to share the cataloging and technical services efficiencies going on in their libraries/organizations.
3:15-3:30pm LYRASIS Wrap-up (Linda Gonzalez and Jennifer Bielewski-LYRASIS)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)